I started using Norton products on Windows 3.1; my opinion of their utility programs was very high. However, after my ordeal with Ghost 9, I will neither buy nor recommend Symantec software again. Anyone considering going against the advice of those who posted their experiences on this and other sites should consider the following.

First, read what others are writing, especially about their problems. Sure wish I had done so before shelling out the purchase price, but that pales in comprison to the frustration and time wasted trying to use Ghost 9. Moreover, I can validate most of the difficulties others posted here because I experienced them!!

Next, THIS SOFTWARE REQUIRES PRODUCT ACTIVATION!! A very important point not printed on the box for a potential customer to read. One discovers it on the CD, within the electronic manual. A catch-22 because once software is opened one is stuck with it. Without activation it stops working after 30-days, but then again, I never got that far before deciding it was not for me. Additionally, companies using this method to treat customers as 'pirates' is why many people avoid products with activation, me included.

Lastly, before you even insert the CD, BACKUP using MS backup or some other utility to restore your system. SAVE ALL VALUABLE FILES ON REMOVABLE MEDIA!!! Doing that before installing/uninstalling Ghost 9 allowed me to clean up the mess without losing anything EXCEPT half a day and a hand full of hair.

In sum, still want to try it, "Caveat Emptor."

Gee, I wish I had read the other Amazon reviews before I downloaded this instead of having to learn firsthand. The worst thing about it isn't it not working, it's Symantec trying to charge you $50 to tell you how to get it to work. Their online documentation on the product is rubbish, their marketing is good though. Final verdict: It is trash, DO NOT BUY IT!

Drive imaging technology should be able to copy drives, right?

1) if you boot from CD, you can't copy drive to drive
2) In order to copy drive to drive you have to register it
3) In order to copy drive to drive after you've registered it, you have to have a valid internet connection so it can check the validity of your license
4) If you forget to check the "mark drive active" box, but you mark the "copy MBR" box, it doesn't warn you that your drive won't be bootable (even though the only possible reason that you'd want to copy the MBR is to have a bootable drive)

I bought this program to do one very specific thing: copy the contents of one drive to another, ensuring that the destination drive would be bootable. Unfortuantely Norton decided to cripple this product in such a way that what should have been five minutes of set up and an hour or so of waiting turned into an hour of setup and 3 hours of waiting (and I'm not even sure it will work yet).

DON'T buy this product.

Peter Norton's organization is becoming more and more like Micro$oft every day. They bought PowerQuest and simply re-branded it. This used to be DriveImage, and what's funny is that when it was a PowerQuest package it seemed to work. I would HIGHLY recommend Acronis True Image instead of this piece of junk. Symantec (Norton) should focus on Utilities and things they are good at, not buying other companies and screwing up what they USED to do RIGHT.

The recovery CD program would not work. It would start up, but the menu options for recovery would hang the system.

There is ZERO support. The online support is totally worthless, and otherwise you pay big bucks.

I am demanding my money back on this total junk.